Difference between revisions of "Sega Dreamcast"

From Sega Retro

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** Operating frequency: 206 MHz
 
** Operating frequency: 206 MHz
 
** Features: [[wikipedia:128-bit|128-bit]] [[wikipedia:SIMD|SIMD]] @ 200 MHz, [[wikipedia:Floating-point unit|floating-point unit]], graphic functions
 
** Features: [[wikipedia:128-bit|128-bit]] [[wikipedia:SIMD|SIMD]] @ 200 MHz, [[wikipedia:Floating-point unit|floating-point unit]], graphic functions
** Performance: 360 [[wikipedia:Instructions per second|MIPS]] and 1.4 [http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Instructions_per_second GFLOPS]
+
** Performance: 360 [[wikipedia:Instructions per second|MIPS]] and 1.4 [[wikia:w:c:Instructions per second|GFLOPS]]
 
*GPU: PowerVR2 CLX2* (PVR2DC) @ 100 MHz{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/overview/index.html}}
 
*GPU: PowerVR2 CLX2* (PVR2DC) @ 100 MHz{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/overview/index.html}}
 
**It is capable of drawing around 7 million polygons per second, but the geometry data storage (the models for the polygons) would become a limiting factor, chipping away video memory for the textures.
 
**It is capable of drawing around 7 million polygons per second, but the geometry data storage (the models for the polygons) would become a limiting factor, chipping away video memory for the textures.
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*Color Output: 16,777,216 simultaneous colors (24 bit)
 
*Color Output: 16,777,216 simultaneous colors (24 bit)
 
** Color depth: [[wikipedia:32-bit color|32-bit]]{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20070811102018/http://www3.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/reviews/video/neon250/2.shtml}} [[wikipedia:RGBA color space|ARGB]],{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/overview/index.html}} 16,777,216 colors ([[wikipedia:24-bit color|24-bit color]]){{ref|http://www.segatech.com/arcade/naomi1/index.html}} with 8-bit (256 levels) [[wikipedia:Alpha compositing|alpha blending]],{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/overview/index.html}}{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20070811102018/http://www3.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/reviews/video/neon250/2.shtml}} [[wikipedia:YUV|YUV]] and [[wikipedia:RGB color space|RGB color spaces]], [[wikipedia:Chroma key|color key]] overlay{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20070811102018/http://www3.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/reviews/video/neon250/2.shtml}}
 
** Color depth: [[wikipedia:32-bit color|32-bit]]{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20070811102018/http://www3.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/reviews/video/neon250/2.shtml}} [[wikipedia:RGBA color space|ARGB]],{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/overview/index.html}} 16,777,216 colors ([[wikipedia:24-bit color|24-bit color]]){{ref|http://www.segatech.com/arcade/naomi1/index.html}} with 8-bit (256 levels) [[wikipedia:Alpha compositing|alpha blending]],{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/overview/index.html}}{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20070811102018/http://www3.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/reviews/video/neon250/2.shtml}} [[wikipedia:YUV|YUV]] and [[wikipedia:RGB color space|RGB color spaces]], [[wikipedia:Chroma key|color key]] overlay{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20070811102018/http://www3.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/reviews/video/neon250/2.shtml}}
* Graphical Performance:
+
* [[wikia:w:c:gaming:Three-dimensional|Polygon]] Performance:
** [http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Three-dimensional Polygon] performance: 7 million textured polygons/sec (with shadows,{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/gpu/index.html}} lighting{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20000823204755/http://computer.org/micro/articles/dreamcast_2.htm}} and trilinear filtering{{ref|''Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time'', p. 277}}) to 10 million polygons/sec (with lighting){{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20000823204755/http://computer.org/micro/articles/dreamcast_2.htm}}{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/cpu/index.html}}
+
** 5 million textured polygons/sec, will all effects (including shadows, lighting, trilinear filtering, anti-aliasing, hidden surface removal, etc.)
** Rendering [[wikipedia:Fillrate|fillrate]]: 500 million pixels/sec{{ref|http://www.system16.com}} (with transparent polygons) to over 3.2 billion pixels/sec (with opaque polygons){{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20000823204755/http://computer.org/micro/articles/dreamcast_2.htm}}
+
** 7 million textured polygons/sec, with shadows,{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/gpu/index.html}} lighting{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20000823204755/http://computer.org/micro/articles/dreamcast_2.htm}} and trilinear filtering{{ref|''Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time'', p. 277}}
 +
** 10 million polygons/sec, with lighting{{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20000823204755/http://computer.org/micro/articles/dreamcast_2.htm}}{{ref|http://segatech.com/technical/cpu/index.html}}
 +
* [[wikipedia:Fillrate|Fillrate]] Performance:
 +
** Rendering fillrate: 500 million pixels/sec{{ref|http://www.system16.com}} (with transparent polygons) to over 3.2 billion pixels/sec (with opaque polygons){{ref|http://web.archive.org/web/20000823204755/http://computer.org/micro/articles/dreamcast_2.htm}}
 
** Texture fillrate: 100 million [[wikipedia:Texel (graphics)|texels]]/sec
 
** Texture fillrate: 100 million [[wikipedia:Texel (graphics)|texels]]/sec
  

Revision as of 10:36, 25 February 2015

Dreamcast.jpg
Sega Dreamcast
Manufacturer: Sega
Release Date RRP Code

The Sega Dreamcast (ドリームキャスト), code-named "Katana" and "Dural" during development, is a video game console manufactured by Sega as a successor to the Sega Saturn. It was the first machine released in what is now known as the sixth generation of video game consoles, with its sixth-generation peers being the PlayStation 2, the Nintendo GameCube and the Xbox.

The Dreamcast was Sega's last home console, and developed primarily to detoxify the Sega brand. Western trust in Sega had been reduced following the dismal performance of the Sega Mega-CD, Sega 32X and Sega Saturn, and Sega were keen to regain the trust seen in the days of the Sega Mega Drive. Faced with increased competition from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, the Dreamcast landed in a distant fourth place, and Sega largely pulled out of the console business as a result.

Many of Sega's games still in development for the Dreamcast at the time of its discontinuation were eventually released for other platforms, leading to the Dreamcast Diaspora. However, the innovative features of the Dreamcast along with a strong library of games means the console still has a large, dedicated fanbase, to the extent that Dreamcast games are still being released commercially today.

Hardware

The Sega Dreamcast lays claim to being a "128-bit" video game console, although like many consoles of the era, this concept was mainly used as marketing jargon to assert a position above systems like the 32-bit PlayStation and "64-bit" Nintendo 64 (and save for a few handhelds and the PlayStation 2, it was the last mainstream console to make these sorts of claims). It is widely considered to be the console which ushered in what is now known as the "sixth generation" of video game consoles, beginning in 1998 and ending around 2007 when the major industry players began to focus their attention on seventh generation systems.

The Dreamcast is a small, white box with four control ports (taking design cues from the Nintendo 64), a removable modem, disc drive and an extension port (as well as the expected AV and power inputs). It is not backwards compatible with any prior Sega hardware or software (although its controller derives from the Saturn's 3D Control Pad), and operates in much the same way as the Saturn (and PlayStation) does, with a configurable settings and memory management accessed through a BIOS screen.

The Dreamcast uses a proprietary format of storage called GD-ROMs for games in order to foil software pirates, a strategy that ultimately backfired when the first run of discs had a high rate of defects. The format was also cracked fairly quickly (and in some cases, the pirated games were released before the legitimate versions). Sega largely had themselves to blame for the high levels of Dreamcast piracy—their use of the GD-ROM format was completely undermined by the console's support for the Mil-CD format, which allowed the console to boot from a standard CD-R. Mil-CD support was removed from the final Dreamcast revisions toward the end of the console's life.

The GD-ROM format also put the console at a disadvantage when competing against the PlayStation 2 - the PS2 used DVDs, and could therefore run DVD videos making it an inexpensive DVD player as well as a video game console. DVD-ROMs also have more stoage space, allowing for bigger games (though the initial run of PS2 games used a blue CD-ROM format).

The Dreamcast was the first video game console to ship with a built-in 56k modem, with broadband adapters being made available later on in certain regions. This allowed the system to connect to the internet using a custom, fully-functional web browser and e-mail client. Many games released for the Dreamcast shipped with online play modes, the most popular being Phantasy Star Online and the Sega Sports lineup (now published under the ESPN label). Although other consoles before the Dreamcast had network gaming support, such as the Sega Saturn's NetLink and the Sega Mega Drive's XB∀ND, the Dreamcast was the first game console to include this ability out of the box and is therefore considered the first internet-enabled home game system.

The Dreamcast has a modest hacking enthusiast community. The availability of Windows CE software development kits on the Internet—as well as ports of Linux (LinuxDC) and dreamcast NetBSD operating systems to the Dreamcast—gave programmers a selection of familiar development tools to work with, even though they do not really support the high speed graphics. A homebrew minimal operating system called Kallistios offers support for most hardware, while not offering multi-tasking, which is superfluous for games. Many emulators and other tools (MP3, DivX players, and image viewers) have been ported to or written for the console, taking advantage of the relative ease with which a home user can write a CD which is bootable by an unmodified Dreamcast.

Sega released an arcade board, using the same technology as the Dreamcast, called Sega NAOMI, leading to many Dreamcast-exclusive games with a high level of arcade quality. They later packaged the Dreamcast into an arcade board as the Sammy Atomiswave.

Though the Dreamcast was officially discontinued in early 2001, commercial games were still developed for it and worldwide software support continued until 2002, terminating in the USA with the February 12th release of NHL 2K2, and in Europe with Cannon Spike and Freestyle Scooter on May 3. In Japan, software support continued for much longer. On February 24, 2004, Sega released its final Dreamcast game, Puyo Puyo Fever. The final new third party game for the system was Karous, released on March 8, 2007, and the final official release was a reprint of the 2003 title Border Down released exclusively through the Messe Sanoh store on January 17, 2008.

Technical Specifications

  • Inputs: Four ports that can support a digital and analog controller, steering wheel, joystick, keyboard, mouse, and more
  • Dimensions: 189mm x 195mm x 76mm (7 7/16" x 7 11/16" x 3")
  • Weight: 1.9kg (4.4lbs)
  • Modem: Removable; Original Asia/Japan model had a 33.6 Kbytes/s; models released after 9 September 1999 had a 56 Kbytes/s modem
  • Sega Dreamcast Broadband Adapter: these adapters are available separately and replace the removable modem
    • HIT-400: "Broadband Adapter", the more common model, this used a RealTek 8139 chip and supported 10/100mbit
  • HIT-300: "Lan Adapter", this version used a Fujitsu MB86967 chip and supported only 10mbit
  • Storage: "Visual Memory Unit" (VMU) 128 Kb removable storage device
  • Input devices: (4 custom controller ports)
  • Output devices:
  • Add-ons:

BIOS

BIOS Revisions
BIOS Version Machine Download
1.004 Sega Dreamcast (Commercial-Early) 1.004 (Japan) (info) ("Jp_dc_1.004.7z" does not exist)
1.01d Sega Dreamcast (Commercial) 1.01d (North America) (info) ("Us_dc_1.01d.zip" does not exist)
1.01d (Europe) (info) ("Eu_dc_1.01d.zip" does not exist)
1.01d (Japan) (info) ("Jp_dc_1.01d.zip" does not exist)
1.011 Sega Dreamcast (HKT-0120 Devbox) 1.011 (HKT-0120 Devbox) (info) ("Jp_dc_1.011(dev).7z" does not exist)

Special Dreamcasts

For a full list of special edition dreamcasts, see Special Dreamcast Models.

History

Development

Main article: Sega Dreamcast Development

Release

Japan

The Dreamcast was first released on the 27th of November 1998 in Japan with four launch titles: July, Pen Pen TriIcelon, Virtua Fighter 3tb, and Godzilla Generations. The situation in Japan was very different to that of the western world - in Japan the Sega Saturn had been a rousing success, and Japanese publishers failed to see the need for a new console. However sales were still strong for many years and Sega of Japan's position was to run the two consoles in parallel, with the possibility of the Saturn handling 2D games, and the Dreamcast, 3D.

Initial predictions by Sega were that the PlayStation 2 would debut in late 1999 (it was actually early 2000 in Japan). The aim was to attract as many developers as possible within a year to attempt to secure the Dreamcast as the number one consoles of its generation.

With the Mega Drive, Sega had identified the US and Europe as the largest video game markets. With the Saturn and Dreamcast, they felt (perhaps wrongly) that Japan was the key territory. As such, like the Saturn, the Dreamcast was subjected to many games exclusive to Japan, along with numerous exclusive peripherals and special Dreamcast models.

Japanese Dreamcasts can be identified by the triangle at the front of the unit. Though the power LED is identical across all regions, the piece of plastic attached to the lid of the Japanese model is transparent, while in North America it is grey.

North America

The US had to wait nearly a full year for their Dreamcasts - Sega executed a massive launch on the 9th of September 1999 (9/9/99). Shoichiro Irimajiri claimed this was so the Dreamcast could launch with wider variety of games (it ended up being 4 (JP) vs. 18 (US)), and the first time a Sega console would launch with "enough" games.

The Dreamcast took in over $97 Million USD on the first day of launch in North America, and sold over 500,000 machines in the first two weeks. Sega were quick to point out that $97,000,000 is more than Star Wars: The Phantom Menace brought in on its first day of release. Over a million machines were sold in North America in just over two and a half months, making the Dreamcast the fastest selling video games machine in that region, ever.

Sega Dreamcast's motto in the US was "It's thinking". There was some confusion with Sega's marketing tactics at the time, as adverts often failed to address what was thinking. It was not always clear that the Dreamcast was a games console.

But the Dreamcast was met with problems when rumours of Sony's PlayStation 2 came into circulation. Many consumers held back from buying Dreamcasts, anticipating that Sony's console would be superior. Predictably, the PlayStation 2 proved to be a more capable machine, and despite its relatively weak initial library of games, came out on top due to the inclusion of DVD-playback capabilities. At the time, DVD players were quite expensive, so the PS2 was seen as a much better deal.

Production of North American Dreamcasts ceased in November 2001, several months after Sega announced plans to leave the console business. Despite this, the Dreamcast is seen to have been more successful than the Sega Saturn (and Sega Master System) in this region.

Europe

The European release date was also aimed at a 9/9/99 release date but was pushed back to the 14th of October 1999. Likewise, initial European sales figures looked healthy, with over 100,000 machines sold in Europe on launch day alone and over 185,000 in the first weekend, but were console was threatened by the release of the PlayStation 2 and inevitably suffered the same fate as its North American counterpart. Albeit this, the Dreamcast did last longer in Europe than in North America, and was officially discontinued in the spring of 2002.

On 8 September 2000, Sega Europe reduced the price in the UK to £149.99. [1]

Australia/New Zealand

Unfortunately, in the Australian region the launch was less successful, often being labeled a disaster by fans of Sega. Ozisoft, the official Sega distributor in Australia, only managed to output nine launch titles despite the late release date (November 30, 1999), none of which were first party products. Apparently Sega-developed software had been held in customs and could not reach store shelves by the release date. Also with no VMUs or other peripherals on the market, it seemed that after what seemed like infinite delays, Australian fans deserved better.

Brazil

Tectoy, who had been responsible for distributing Sega consoles in Brazil since the Sega Master System, brought the Dreamcast to Brazil on October 4, 1999. The majority of games were repackaged titles imported from the US, and the console was not particularly successful.

South Korea

Breaking from the tradition of partnering with Samsung, in South Korea the Sega Dreamcast was reportedly distributed by Hyundai, the company who, curiously, had carried Nintendo products in the country during the 90s. Unlike the rest of the world, the Dreamcast arrived late in South Korea and was priced as a budget console competing against the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. 25,000 units were shipped before Hyundai cancelled the project for unknown reasons. South Korean Dreamcasts were supposedly bundled with modem cables to take advantage of the system's online services.

Some Korean developers were reportedly developing games for the Dreamcast before the plug was pulled. Arcturus and White Day, both eventually released on the PC, were once set to be released on the console.

What's in the box?

You will normally find the following in your box, along with a bunch of advertising-based and warning pamphlets together with recycled and recyclable packaging materials.

  • The Dreamcast console
  • Modem (attached to the console, but detachable - try it!)†
  • One joypad controller
  • Demo GD-ROM Disc
  • Browser Disc ††
  • A long (30 foot) phone cable for the modem†
  • Power cable with the appropriate plug for your region
  • Composite video lead (also known as an AV cable)†††
  • Manual (a simple black and white affair)

† If your machine is imported from Asia, or if you live there, you won't get a modem, just a lump of plastic so that you don't have a gaping hole in the side of your machine.
†† The exact browser disc included varied by region and time of release. The Japanese browser was Dream Passport, the US browser was PlanetWeb and the European browser was DreamKey.
††† In the UK, a RF Unit was included instead of the AV cable to ensure that the Dreamcast was compatible with all TVs. I don't have any info yet on which TV leads were included in other European regions, but it is possible that an RGB/SCART cable was included.

There is no VMU in the standard Dreamcast packages in any of the 4 regions.

There is no RF unit in the standard North American Dreamcast package. For older TVs, you'll have to purchase this separately. Also, if you have a S-Video or SCART capable TV, you should buy the relevant cable for that, too.

Launch Titles

Japan

North America

Europe

Gallery

Photos

Hardware Diagrams

Logos

Promotional Material

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Television Advertisements

Sega Home Video Game Systems
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Sega Dreamcast
Topics Technical specifications (Hardware comparison) | History (Development | Release | Decline and legacy | Internet) | List of games | Magazine articles | Promotional material | Merchandise
Hardware Japan (Special) | Western Europe | Eastern Europe | North America | Asia | South America | Australasia | Africa
Add-ons Dreamcast Karaoke | Dreameye
Controllers Controller | Arcade Stick | Fishing Controller | Gun (Dream Blaster) | Race Controller | Maracas Controller (Third-party) | Twin Stick | Keyboard | Mouse | Third-party
Controller Add-ons Jump Pack (Third-party) | Microphone | VMU (4x Memory Card | Third-party)
Development Hardware Dev.Box | Controller Box | Controller Function Checker | Sound Box | GD-Writer | C1/C2 Checker | Dev.Cas | GD-ROM Duplicator
Online Services/Add-ons Dreamarena | SegaNet | WebTV for Dreamcast | Modem | Modular Cable | Modular Extension Cable | Broadband Adapter | Dreamphone
Connector Cables Onsei Setsuzoku Cable | RF Adapter | Scart Cable | S Tanshi Cable | Stereo AV Cable | VGA Box

Dreamcast MIDI Interface Cable | Neo Geo Pocket/Dreamcast Setsuzoku Cable | Taisen Cable

Misc. Hardware Action Replay CDX | Code Breaker | Kiosk | MP3 DC | MP3 DC Audio Player | Official Case | Treamcast
Third-party accessories Controllers | Controller converters | Miscellaneous
Unreleased Accessories DVD Player | Zip Drive | Swatch Access for Dreamcast | VMU MP3 Player
Arcade Variants NAOMI | Atomiswave | Sega Aurora
  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 http://segatech.com/technical/overview/index.html
  2. 2.0 2.1 http://www.segatech.com/arcade/naomi1/index.html
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 http://computer.org/micro/articles/dreamcast_2.htm (Wayback Machine: 2000-08-23 20:47)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 http://www3.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/reviews/video/neon250/2.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2007-08-11 10:20)
  5. http://uk.ign.com/articles/2000/01/22/zombie-revenge-3
  6. http://www.segatech.com/technical/saturnspecs/
  7. http://segatech.com/technical/gpu/index.html
  8. [Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time, p. 277 Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time, p. 277]
  9. http://segatech.com/technical/cpu/index.html
  10. http://www.system16.com